SPECIAL AMMUNITION FOR BLOWGUNS The blowgun is an interesting weapon which has several advantages. A blowgun can be extremely accurate, concealable, and deliver an explosive or poisoned projectile. The manufacture of an explosive dart or projectile is not difficult. To acquire a blowgun, please contact the editor at one of the addresses given in the introduction. Perhaps the most simple design for such involves the use of a pill capsule, such as the kind that are taken for headaches or allergies. Empty gelatin pill capsules can be purchased from most health-food stores. Next, the capsule would be filled with an impact-sensitive explosive, such as mercury fulminate. An additional high explosive charge could be placed behind the impact sensitive explosive, if one of the larger capsules were used. Finally, the explosive capsule would be reglued back together, and a tassel or cotton would be glued to the end containing the high explosive, to insure that the impact-detonating explosive struck the target first. Such a device would probably be about 3/4 of an inch long, not including the tassel or cotton, and look something like this: ____________________ /mercury | \----------------------- (fulminate| R.D.X. )---------------------- } tassels \________|___________/----------------------- Care must be taken- if a powerful dart went off in the blowgun, you could easily blow the back of your head off. SPECIAL AMMUNITION FOR WRISTROCKETS AND SLINGSHOTS A modern wristrocket is a formidable weapon. It can throw a shooter marble about 500 ft. with reasonable accuracy. Inside of 200 ft., it could well be lethal to a man or animal, if it struck in a vital area. Because of the relatively large sized projectile that can be used in a wristrocket, the wristrocket can be adapted to throw relatively powerful explosive projectiles. A small segment of aluminum pipe could be made into an impact-detonating device by filling it with an impact-sensitive explosive material. Also, such a pipe could be filled with a low-order explosive, and fitted with a fuse, which would be lit before the device was shot. One would have to make sure that the fuse was of sufficient length to insure that the device did not explode before it reached its intended target. Finally, .22 caliber caps, such as the kind that are used in .22 caliber blank guns, make excellent exploding ammunition for wristrockets, but they must be used at a relatively close range, because of their light weight. SPECIAL AMMUNITION FOR FIREARMS When special ammunition is used in combination with the power and rapidity of modern firearms, it becomes very easy to take on a small army with a single weapon. It is possible to buy explosive ammunition, but that can be difficult to do. Such ammunition can also be manufactured in the home. There is, however, a risk involved with modifying any ammunition. If the ammunition is modified incorrectly, in such a way that it makes the bullet even the slightest bit wider, an explosion in the barrel of the weapon will occur. For this reason, NOBODY SHOULD EVER ATTEMPT TO MANUFACTURE SUCH AMMUNITION. SPECIAL AMMUNITION FOR HANDGUNS If an individual wished to produce explosive ammunition for his/her handgun, he/she could do it, provided that the person had an impact-sensitive explosive and a few simple tools. One would first purchase all lead bullets, and then make or acquire an impact-detonating explosive. By drilling a hole in a lead bullet with a drill, a space could be created for the placement of an explosive. After filling the hole with an explosive, it would be sealed in the bullet with a drop of hot wax from a candle. A diagram of a completed exploding bullet is shown below. _o_ ------------ drop of wax /|*|\ | |*|-|----------- impact-sensitive explosive | |_| | |_____| This hollow space design also works for putting poison in bullets. In many spy thrillers, an assassin is depicted as manufacturing "exploding bullets" by placing a drop of mercury in the nose of a bullet. Through experimentation it has been found that this will not work. Mercury reacts with lead to form a inert silvery compound. SPECIAL AMMUNITION FOR SHOTGUNS Because of their large bore and high power, it is possible to create some extremely powerful special ammunition for use in shotguns. If a shotgun shell is opened at the top, and the shot removed, the shell can be re-closed. Then, if one can find a very smooth, lightweight wooden dowel that is close to the bore width of the shotgun, a person can make several types of shotgun-launched weapons. Insert the dowel in the barrel of the shotgun with the shell without the shot in the firing chamber. Mark the dowel about six inches away from the end of the barrel, and remove it from the barrel. Next, decide what type of explosive or incendiary device is to be used. This device can be a chemical fire bottle (sect. 3.43), a pipe bomb (sect 4.42), or a thermite bomb (sect 3.41 and 4.42). After the device is made, it must be securely attached to the dowel. When this is done, place the dowel back in the shotgun. The bomb or incendiary device should be on the end of the dowel. Make sure that the device has a long enough fuse, light the fuse, and fire the shotgun. If the projectile is not too heavy, ranges of up to 300 ft are possible. A diagram of a shotgun projectile is shown below: ____ || | || | || | ----- bomb, securely taped to dowel || | ||__| || | || | ------- fuse || | || || || || --------- dowel || || || || --------- insert this end into shotgun || || Special "grenade-launcher blanks" should be used- use of regular blank ammunition may cause the device to land perilously close to the user. SPECIAL AMMUNITION FOR COMPRESSED AIR/GAS WEAPONS This section deals with the manufacture of special ammunition for compressed air or compressed gas weapons, such as pump B.B guns, CO2 B.B guns, and .22 cal pellet guns. These weapons, although usually thought of as kids toys, can be made into rather dangerous weapons. SPECIAL AMMUNITION FOR B.B GUNS A B.B gun, for this manuscript, will be considered any type of rifle or pistol that uses compressed air or CO2 gas to fire a projectile with a caliber of .177, either B.B, or lead pellet. Such guns can have almost as high a muzzle velocity as a bullet-firing rifle. Because of the speed at which a .177 caliber projectile flies, an impact detonating projectile can easily be made that has a caliber of .177. Most ammunition for guns of greater than .22 caliber use primers to ignite the powder in the bullet. These primers can be bought at gun stores, since many people like to reload their own bullets. Such primers detonate when struck by the firing pin of a gun. They will also detonate if they are thrown at a hard surface at a great speed. Usually, they will also fit in the barrel of a .177 caliber gun. If they are inserted flat end first, they will detonate when the gun is fired at a hard surface. If such a primer is attached to a piece of thin metal tubing, such as that used in an antenna, the tube can be filled with an explosive, be sealed, and fired from a B.B gun. A diagram of such a projectile appears below: _____ primers _______ | | | | | | V V ______ ______ | ________________________ |------------------- | ****** explosive ******* |------------------- } tassel or | ________________________ |------------------- cotton |_____ _____|------------------- ^ | | |_______ antenna tubing The front primer is attached to the tubing with a drop of super glue. The tubing is then filled with an explosive, and the rear primer is glued on. Finally, a tassel, or a small piece of cotton is glued to the rear primer, to insure that the projectile strikes on the front primer. The entire projectile should be about 3/4 of an inch long. SPECIAL AMMUNITION FOR .22 CALIBER PELLET GUNS A .22 caliber pellet gun usually is equivalent to a .22 cal rifle, at close ranges. Because of this, relatively large explosive projectiles can be adapted for use with .22 caliber air rifles. A design similar to that used in section 5.12 is suitable, since some capsules are about .22 caliber or smaller. Or, a design similar to that in section 5.31 could be used, only one would have to purchase black powder percussion caps, instead of ammunition primers, since there are percussion caps that are about .22 caliber. A #11 cap is too small, but anything larger will do nicely. -= Exodus =-